Thread: Bra Measurement Surprise!

I had never been measured for my bra size until last weekend. I was caught by surprise when I was told I was a 36D. WTH? So I went again this weekend back to Victoria's Secret and had someone else measure who got the same size. I sure don't look or feel like a D cup. I stuck with the regular size which is a cup size down. Are any of you surprised by your measurement? I usually have to get a B/C cup to fit in Emans. So confused.

I totally understand your confusion!!!

Depending on the VS store and the person who measures you it seems you'll get different measurements, only once (well I guesss twice) I received the same measurments. I've worn a
34-B/C my entire life (unless I have the occassionaly weight lost), and VS measured me at 32D once, I laughed in the lady's face, there was no way.

and if you go by the magazines of how to measure yourself, I come up with an A/B.

I'd say if you REALLY need to know, go to a GOOD lingerie or bra store, not a chain and get measured. Also remember, if you had a recent change in weight due to really anything, or something that changed/altered your boady it may be different than you're use to.

Good luck!

How To Determine Bra Size - Tips On How To Measure Your Bra Size
How to Measure Your Bra Size: 5 steps (with video) - wikiHow

I slide. I measure at 36D, but there is no way in hades that a 36D is going to hold me in place. So I slide to a 34DD. Which works.

I agree. Go to a really good store and be measured. Many department stores have professional fitters who have been there for ages. Or ask when the manufactures are going to have an event with a professional fitter. I know that Maidenform does these on a regular basis.

The other thing to remember is to be fitted every few years. Our bodies change and our breasts grow and shrink for multiple reasons. So sometimes we just need to get a different sized bra!

{{{HUGS}}}

Originally Posted by SaNoorah

...I'd say if you REALLY need to know, go to a GOOD lingerie or bra store, not a chain and get measured.

That's true. It could be that VS has their own measuring system based on their bras only.

Fredericks of Hollywood is always on the money for me. But, in my area the sales associate who works there has been there since I was a teen. I would miss her if she left!

Never realized that all measurements would be different per manufacturer who knew? But, I also have made my dance bras from Fredericks too. I just purchased a bigger cup size for all the trimming that shrinks the bra.

I have personally had the opposite problem at VS. I wear a 36DD and they try to fit me in 34C's. The lady who fitted me at Nordstroms told me I wear a 34F. It really all depends on the bra fitter. I ended up sticking to a 36DD because it is what is most comfortable for me.

Mahsima -

Actually you have done what is called sliding. A 34F in many cases is = to a 36DD (or some manufactures call 36E), Although most people slide down.

{{{HUGS}}}

My bra size is a 28E, but in egyptian costume bra sizes, I wear a B/C! A 28E = 30DD = 32D = 34C = 36B! This is rough though, works more on costumes where you can make adjustments to the back (though Agent Provocateur make adjustments to their bras and bikinis if required)

My niece worked at VS, she measured me and said I'm 36D. But I think 38D fits me better.
With imported costumes I don't worry about what the tag says, I prefer to go by actual measurements of the costume itself.

I used to work in retail and did bra measurements. Most people are surprised but then find the bra in that size fits nicer without gaps or stretched elastic.
It's also important to remember that its an suggestions. I measure a 38DDD but have always prefered the fit of a 40DD for my everyday bras. The extra two inches makes the cups start more toward the front and can be smaller.
I am not sure how these measurements apply to costumes. I always want the band of have plenty of overlap so I need much more that 38" and also cup size is a depth measurement not shape. I think when costumes say they fit a DD/DDD they mean someone with a DD fits in it but maybe not you. It's a crap shoot. Thats why we all learn to sew.

Mahsima - I agree, I have a few friends that are 34+DD+, and VS has always told them a smaller size or, has just said they do not have bras that fit them.

I'd also agree that the costumes in bras are a suggestion and not necessarily a true size, esp since they do not usually stretch and such, also depends on the type, turkish are different from Egyptian and so forth.

ScarletDancer - I'm hoping I will learn, I can do "little" stuff nothing major, I think I'm too nervous to take something apart and never be able to put it back together.

Bra measurements are really a starting point. The shape of the cup will change my size for me, as well as manufacturer differences.

Don't get measured at VS! They told me I was a 32A. A few months later I went to a lingerie specialty store and got measured there, and they told me I'm a 30C. I had to special order bras in that size, but they fit like a dream. No wonder the 32A bras they talked me into buying at VS fit me so terribly! The ribcage was too big, so they rode up on me, and the cups were too small, so I was spilling out of the cups. VS gets no love from me on the bra-fitting front. If you have a Nordstrom near you, they're really good for bra fittings.

I had great luck at Nordstrom's being mesured & fitted there.

Originally Posted by gretchendances

I had great luck at Nordstrom's being mesured & fitted there.

I third the Nordstroms recommendation. I went there a few years ago thinking I was a 36C and the woman told me I would get a better fit out of a 34D. I was very shocked about the D part, but they do fit better.

I have heard most women wear bras that are too small for them anyway. But I also find the belly dance sizes don't correspond to lingerie sizes.

Get fied where there are plenty of bras for people your figure.
If you wear a 32B, go to a place that also sells 30C and 34A in case you have that size. If you wear 36DD, go somewhere that also sells 34E and 32F and 38D.

A lot of stores put you in a wrong sized bra if they dont have your size. Mostly they give you too big a ribcage, too small a cup.

A lot of stores put you in a wrong sized bra if they dont have your size. Mostly they give you too big a ribcage, too small a cup.[/QUOTE]

absolutely! for years I've struggled with wandering straps and lack of support...
found recently that I had been wearing a 36D when i needed a 32, my cup size has slid up to E or F but it looks and feels so much better ..g.:

I'd recommend Bravissimo xx

This has to be one of the most common problems for women. Maybe it tells us something about restrictive wear and why we should've continued the burning bras tradition. LOL. Just kidding.

My cousin owns a lingerie boutique and she hates it when ladies come into her store with their VS measurements in hand. According to her, VS bras are smaller and rarely fit properly if you use your normal size.

Personally, I wore a 34B during my teens and early twenties. Then one day I realized that I hated how tight the strap fit around my rib cage and how my boobs always felt like they were squished together. Is that supposed to be cleavage? Because it sure aint pretty. It took a lot of courage to try a 36C, but, lo' and behold, it fit properly and felt comfortable. Nothing rode up my back or dug into my shoulder blades, a major reason for shoulder and neck pain. Plus, my girls felt marvelous for the first time (not to mention my ego).

I used to work at a lingerie import store...at the time I got so I could look at a woman and figure out her size! I'm not sure that's a really useful skill though. lol
VS measures differently than ALL other bra measuring systems.
This is most common- and what they do in Nordstroms, other department stores, costume shops etc. Bra Fitting - How to Measure Bra Size

This is how they do it at VS
Victoria's Secret - Measure for a Perfect Fit
They always recommend the wrong size to me there.

Victoria's secret always measured me incorrectly...they wanted me to be a larger band and a smaller cup..it wasn't pretty! i also found that their bras are not supportive for me at a DD. I love Lane Bryant and special order the smaller band sizes when they are available.

To me, VS runs small. Whatever I've worn from other places, I have to get a size or two larger at VS.

I've been buying from Sexy Lingerie | Corsets | Plus Size Lingerie.

VS makes terrible bras and they have no idea how to fit women. Don't bother with them. Here's the deal with bras: most women are wearing a cup size too small and a band size too big. If you're anywhere near New York City, get yourself to Town Shop on Broadway around 82nd St. in Manhattan:

Town Shop

or that Lower East Side institution, Orchard Corset:

Welcome to Orchard Corset - You just look different!

The lowdown on these two workshorses:

Town Shop was run by the venerable Selma Koch, who has now passed on to the great fitting room in the sky, and passed the place on to her sons. My mom took me here when I was a young teenager and I wanted to DIE when Mrs. Koch looked at my too-small bra and said, "You can't wear this! You'll bust yer tissue!" It took me years to go back. But when I finally did, I was amazed. I walked in thinking I was a 36D (because it was the biggest size I could find in a chain store), and walked out of there wearing a 34E, looking great. You'll spend money there, but it will be worth it. Town Shop is the place that told me two very important facts:

1) If you own one bra, you can wear it for three months before it will conk out. Two bras, 6 months; 3 bras, 9 months, and so on. After a certain amount of wear, the elastic dies. Don't wear dead bras - your breasts deserve better.

2) Quoth Son of Selma: "If someone comes at you with a tape measure, run the other way! That's the wrong way to measure for a bra."

Orchard Corset is a horse of another color. Where Town Shop is airy and packed with lacy French confections, Orchard Corset is small, dark, and packed to the ceiling with boxes of lingerie. This is the place to go for a great workhorse bra, or better yet, three or four. The prices are great, and the treatment is heimish (That's Yiddish for "homey"). The owner is a Hasidic gentleman who once comically muttered under his breath, "She only wants three, she says" as though petitioning god about this wayward meydele who doesn't know from enough to buy. But, he's not the guy who fits you. That'll be one of their very nice lady bra fitters. Last time I went there, the fitter gave me a couple of bras I can wear for most, maybe all, of my pregnancy, saying, "I hate to make pregnant women go meshugah buying bras all the time".

I've never had a bad fit in either place. Conversely, I do NOT recommend Bra Smyth, which often gets honorable mention. I stick with TS when I'm feeling flush, and Orchard when I need a bargain. They both do mail order, if you're confident about your size.

Bottom line, whether you have access to these places or not: Don't bother with chains. Find a good shop where people are dedicated to fitting you properly. It's worth it.

- Leela

Yeah I had quite a laugh when Vicky's measured me recently. I had measured myself according to the Bare Necessities site and ordered bras that fit (my size had gone up drastically with pregnancy)...so I knew I was a 38F. Vicky's told me I was a 36D. I was just curious as they had just measured my friend for a bra and given her a completely different size - but in her case, I did feel she was wearing her bras too baggy and not tight enough.

careful with any measurement scheme that tells you to add 4" to your underbust - tis a recipe for disaster. That used to be the way they built bras, but not anymore.

I don't trust VS with their measurements. I think they measure according to their bra sizes and that's it.

I've got one of those issues where I have half a cup size difference. I have to use a silicone pad in one side. LOL I was always wearing a B cup and the smaller side is about an A+. Well, I went to a fitter who told me that I'm a cup size up which did surprise me. Sure enough, the C fits perfectly on me. Though I still use the silicone pad haha!

I measured myself using a number formula that I saw in a magazine. I had always worn a 34A and was so depressed that I could never seem to fill that."If I can't even fill an A cup, there's just no hope for me". This formula put me at a 32B so the next bra I bought was that size. Wow! What a difference. Not all B cups are created equal. A 32B cup is actually smaller than a 34 B which is smaller than a 36B . . . etc.
I felt pretty silly because from costuming I knew you had to buy a size larger (=32B buys a 34B not a 32C) since sewing through cups shrinks them a little.
In the end, though, it's all about the fit. If it doesn't feel AND look good, numbers and formulas are useless.

A friend recently sent me this great link that includes photo-illustrations of the relationship between band size and cup letter:
Size Chart Woes: The Naked Truth About Bra Sizes

I think it's interesting to see in real pictures how meaningless the letters are if you don't take into account the bands they're attached to.

I got measured at VS been a 34A as long as I can remember, went to target to buy bras a target no 34As so I bought 34B instead and they fit better. So I went to my friend who works in Macys lingerie dept. confirmed I'm a 34B I'm bigger than I thought.

Them are interesting articles about bra sizing

Alrana

I love VS bras. They are the only ones I will wear. They are very well made, and give me great support. But it never occurred to me that I may wear a different size if I went somewhere else. I guess if I ever decide to try another brand, I may have to get measured, or at least try on a few different sizes.

It does make sense though that the measurements may only apply to a particular store. Most clothing sizes are not standard across the board. Like buying pants. I could wear a size 10 in one store, an 8 in another store, and maybe a 12 in a third store. It's amazing that we can find anything that fits!